Jean-Robert Bellande came to Cyprus to play high-stakes cash games. The regular fixture in some of the biggest games in the world had no intention of butting heads with the money tournament poker superstars who had also made their way to Merit Royal Diamond Casino & Spa in North Cyprus for the Onyx High Roller Series.
Bellande ended up with a seat in the festival’s largest buy-in when the event’s founder, Rob Yong, put him into the tournament. He made the most of the chance, defeating a field of 50 entries in the $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event to earn a career-best tournament payday of $1,500,000.
“I was not even supposed to play the tournament, I don’t know if you know that,” Bellande told Merit Poker after coming out on top. “Rob’s plane got delayed in Istanbul, and as a favor to the guys because he wasn’t at the tournament on time, he decided, ‘Okay, let me throw a fish in the game for you. I’ll give them JRB since I’m not there.’ So he put me in.”
Rob Yong
Bellande wound up playing Yong heads-up for the title in the end, with Yong securing $1,000,000 as the runner-up.
This was only the fourth recorded tournament score of the past half-decade for Bellande. While he largely focuses on the cash games, he has now accrued nearly $4.6 million across 55 in-the-money finishes, with this being his largest score by nearly double. Before this win, his top payday came when he placed second in the 2015 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $784,828. The next-largest was the $616,302 that accompanied his first, and so far only, bracelet win. He topped 621 entries in the 2018 WSOP $5,000 six-max event to capture that long-awaited hardware.
Thinning The Field
Only the top eight finishers earned a share of the $4.8 million prize pool in this high-stakes affair. Three-time bracelet winner Artur Martirosian was knocked out on the six-figure money bubble, running A-Q into the pocket aces of Yong, who did eventually arrive and take his seat. Gha Iakobishvili (8th – $200,000) and Biao Ding (7th – $230,000) soon followed Martirosian to the rail.
Bellande doubled up early during six-handed action, holding with pocket nines against the pocket sixes of fellow bracelet winner Pieter Aerts. The Belgian bounced back, eliminating France’s Emilien Pitavy (6th – $280,000) with trip aces to narrow the field to five.
Another top French player, Thomas Eychenne, was left short when his A-10 suited lost a big all-in against the pocket kings of Markkos Ladev. The two squared off again, this time with K♦9♦ for Eychenne and A♥A♣ for Ladev. Eychenne flopped a nine but failed to improve any further and was eliminated in fifth place ($375,000).
Aerts and Bellande clashed again, with pocket kings for Bellande fading the many outs of Aerts, who shoved with an open-ended straight flush draw. The turn gave Aerts a flush, but Bellande backed into a higher one with a fourth diamond on the river. Aerts earned $515,000 as the fourth-place finisher, growing his lifetime earnings to nearly $8.8 million in the process.
JRB Continues To Surge Down The Stretch
Another big pocket pair helped Bellande secure the next elimination, with his pocket aces holding against top pair of jacks for Ladev. The chips went in on the flop and Bellande held to set up the final showdown against Yong.
It was 31,935,000 for Yong and 17,865,000 for Bellande when heads-up began. Bellande picked off a big bluff early, calling a river shove with second pair to double into the lead.
In the final hand of the event, Yong raised to 1,500,000 on the button with 5♦4♦ and Bellande defended his big blind, calling 900,000 more with K♦J♠. The flop came down J♦9♦3♠ and Yong fired 2,000,000 with his flush draw. Bellande called and the A♥ appeared on the turn. Yong bet 3,000,000 and received another call. The 5♥ completed the board and Yong shoved for 14,270,000. Bellande found another big call with second pair, picking off the bluff to lock up the title. In addition to the money and the trophy, Bellande also earned 600 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion, putting him in 64th place in the 2026 standings presented by CoinPoker.
Yong grew his career earnings to $2.8 million with this deep run. This was his largest live score yet, topping the $856,000 he earned with a fourth-place showing in a $100,000 invitational at the first Onyx Series last summer.
We caught up with @BrokeLivingJRB right after he shipped the $101,000 High Roller Championship at the Onyx Club High Roller Series 🏆
Fresh off the heads-up win vs @rob_yong_ … who immediately shows up to question how JRB even wins tournaments 🤔 @PokerNews pic.twitter.com/4J0dEewVPt
— Onyx Club Merit (@OnyxClub_) February 1, 2026
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Jean-Robert Bellande | $1,500,000 | 600 |
| 2 | Robert Yong | $1,000,000 | 500 |
| 3 | Markkos Ladev | $700,000 | 400 |
| 4 | Pieter Aerts | $515,000 | 300 |
| 5 | Thomas Eychenne | $375,000 | 250 |
| 6 | Emilien Pitavy | $280,000 | 200 |
| 7 | Biao Ding | $230,000 | 150 |
| 8 | Gha Iakobishvili | $200,000 | 100 |
Photo credits: Merit Poker.
